Free one-way ticket to Mars...volunteers needed

Tuesday, April 23, 2013 - 01:18

April 23 - Dutch company Mars One launches a search for volunteer astronauts to fly to and live on Mars. Kilmeny Duchardt reports.

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Thinking about relocating to another city? How about another planet?
Dutch company Mars One is seeking volunteers to take a one-way trip to live on the red planet, knowing that they will not have the capability to return home.
CEO Bas Lansdorp said the mission is an opportunity to change the world, but it's not without risk.
(SOUNDBITE) Bas Lansdorp, CEO, Mars One, saying (English):
"Space missions always include risk and this mission will not be different. When you send humans to Mars there will be risks. But we will select the people and we will tell those people the risks, they will understand the risks and they will have to weigh the risks."
The plan is to send four astronauts to Mars in 2013 with the goal of establishing a permanent human colony.
The first group will be dispatched in 2023 and the Netherlands-based non-profit will send crews every two years after that.
Upon arrival, participants will occupy a habitable settlement that will have been previously built by robotic missions, equipped with living quarters, a gym, television and internet to be able to communicate with family on Earth.
The organization said it has already received 10 thousand prospective applicants from more than 100 countries.
Funding the project is the company's greatest challenge, but Lansdorp promises the experience will be out of this world.

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